There are a number of things to be said
about this third volume in Naxos’s series
and few of them are positive. I realise
that some have expressed an ab initio
objection to the whole idea of a “women
only” series such as this and for well-argued
reasons. I don’t especially mind. An
equally well-grounded argument may concern
the brief and transitory nature of the
salutes, if that’s how we should phrase
it, to these particular musicians. Each
has one track; some last barely a minute,
others two or three. Given that many
are obscure and were recorded on less
well known record labels there is a
real argument for suggesting that certain
musicians should have been taken out
of this context and their entire discographies
presented for the first time on CD.
That would form a concrete basis on
which to consider their contribution.
Naturally that is not the aim of the
series, which is to anthologise women
pianists – in a way that some apparently
consider distasteful.

But what I actually consider distasteful
is my old bête noir, terrible transfers.
If you go to the trouble of digging
up Frieda Valenzi’s 1951 Remington or
Helen Schnabel’s c.1953 Malipiero on
SPA or Livia Rév’s c.1947 Standard Program
Library Poulenc you should at least
preserve the particular tonal and timbral
qualities that distinguish these pianists
and their recordings. But, as before,
the producers make a fetish of announcing
– read this carefully to understand
the full implications – “Great care
is being lavished on making this endeavour
a seamless listening experience, by
matching the acoustical quality of the
various pianos used in so many different
venues.” Let me translate that; these
recordings have been equalized out of
existence. As the recordings span the
many years between 1928 and 1954 the
resulting blancmange is a travesty of
the original recordings and the “seamless
listening experience” is nothing less
than a total abrogation of the transfer
engineer’s art.

It is indeed a triumph of sorts to render
so many recordings, recorded over so
many years, equally muddy and undifferentiated.
So I’m afraid there’s no incentive for
me to comment on the pianists themselves
very much; Valenzi is lumpy and accident
prone in Granados, d’Arco is pedestrian
in Mendelssohn; Krehm’s is apparently
the first recording of this Scriabin
etude; Sellick, recently deceased, is
good in Ravel; Leginska is disappointing
once again – the Ivory Classics transfer
of this is better but still not good;
the American Columbia would sound decent
if a competent engineer got his hands
on it; Amparo Iturbi impresses as she
often does; Kuhn honours the fatuous
Khachaturian piece; the egregious Elly
Ney gives some life to Beethoven in
the days before she ground to a halt;
Czerny-Stefanska is heard in one of
her 1949 London Chopin discs; Haskil
is represented by an early 1934 one;
Francheschi is scintillating in a vapid
piece.

So, interesting pieces, obscure pianists
among the big names, and some unusual
record labels. You can argue about the
concept until the cows come home but
I can assure you of one fact; these
transfers, and the rationale behind
them, are truly awful.

Jonathan Woolf

The following comments
have been received from Marina and Victor
Ledin:

When we proposed this series covering
the two hundred plus pioneering women
pianists, Naxos requested that we select
"encore" pieces. We are doing
so on each volume. Not all women pianists
recorded the rare piano miniatures we
sprinkle throughout. Also, many women
pianists left a small recorded legacy
and the choices are to be made from
only a handful of discs. Thus, it has
been made clear from the beginning that
this anthology is meant to be a long
overdue historic "sampler"
of their artistry, not a final word
on either their artistry or their repertoire
selection.

When we create these volumes we pay
meticulous attention to every element
of the musical progression - including
key signatures, textural changes from
track to track, as well as composer
and style balances.

Additionally, on every disc, we have
endeavored to showcase the pianists
and engage the listener by strategically
utilizing many different combinations
and track orders. We purposely do this
in order to keep each successive volume
"fresh" for the buyer/listener,
while simultaneously staying connected
to the series theme overall.

Mr. Woolf, is completely wrong when
he states that these recordings have
been equalized out of existence. Equalization
throughout the entire album was minimal
to non-existent.

The Valenzi, Schnabel and Rev discs
had quiet surfaces and required only
"declick" from a CEDAR standpoint.
(We thought these recordings were a
bit tubby on the originals.) A number
of other tracks on Vol.3 were actually
straight transfers with no CEDAR used
(for example, Track 1). Additionally,
CEDAR restoration is actually not an
equalization effect at all.

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